DOCSLIB.ORG

Table of Contents

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction......................................................................................................................... 1 2. Women’s rights in the Philippines: the struggle for full recognition .................................. 3 2.1 Laws and their implementation ............................................................................ 4 2.2 Violence against women in the family and community ....................................... 4 2.3 Discrimination against women subjected to sexual violence ............................... 5 3. Torture of women political detainees with impunity: the 1970s to the 1990s ..................... 7 4. Torture and ill-treatment of women in police custody ........................................................ 9 4.1 Violations of women’s rights under the anti-vagrancy law ................................ 12 4.2 Prosecutions of police officers for rape ............................................................ 15 5. Violations of women’s rights in prisons ........................................................................... 17 5.1 Prison conditions ............................................................................................... 21 6. Reports of rapes by the military in Mindanao ................................................................... 23 7. Investigating rape in custody: the importance of medico-legal documentation ................. 24 8. Amnesty International’s recommendations ....................................................................... 26 PHILIPPINES Fear, shame and impunity: Rape and sexual abuse of women in custody 1. Introduction Women in the custody of law enforcement officials in the Philippines are vulnerable to torture, including rape and sexual abuse. Between 1995 and 2000 Amnesty International received reports of more than 30 incidents of rape or other sexual abuse of women or girls in custody. The organization fears that this figure represents only a fraction of the real number of cases. Women in police custody have also reported being subjected to other forms of torture or ill-treatment, including threats, slaps, punches, kicks and sexual assault, such as the groping of breasts. Women detained in provincial, municipal and city jails are also vulnerable to rape or sexual violence. Rape of women detainees by police officers, jail guards or military officials always constitutes torture. It is both a physical violation and injury as well as a humiliating assault on a woman’s mental and emotional integrity. In addition, rape is always associated with the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, particularly Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Women who become pregnant as a result of rape in custody face a further set of serious problems. A common accompaniment to rape, whether in custody or in the community, is the perpetrator’s threat of additional violence if the victim tells anyone of the assault. Other forms of sexual abuse by law enforcement officials, including the threat of rape, verbal sexual abuse and mocking, designed to degrade and humiliate, may also constitute torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Torture is prohibited both under the Philippine Constitution 1 and by the major international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which the Philippines is a party. The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women has defined violence against women as: “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life”.2 Lack of systematic monitoring in the Philippines makes it difficult to estimate the true extent to which women are subjected to torture in custody, but Amnesty International believes 1 Article 111, Section 12 provides that “no torture, force, violence, threat, intimidation or any other means which vitiates the free will shall be used against [the accused].” 2 UN General Assembly resolution 48/104 of 20 December 1993 Amnesty International March 2001 AI Index: ASA 35/001/2001 2 Philippines: Fear, shame and impunity - rape and sexual abuse of women in custody that the real number of cases is far higher than reported. This belief is reinforced by the fact that victims of rape face enormous obstacles in bringing the perpetrators to justice and achieving redress. Such obstacles include fear of reprisals, cultural stigma and feelings of shame which prevent many women from speaking out. Rape victims often face a lack of sensitivity from police or court officials and intrusive media reporting of their cases. Lodging a complaint against a police officer or prison official requires courage and usually financial resources beyond the means of most victims. It is not unusual for a victim of rape by law enforcement officials to be threatened or pressured by the perpetrator into withdrawing her complaint. If the victim is from a disadvantaged social or economic group, as is most often the case, her chances of obtaining justice are bleak. Many women are fearful of a police force whose reputation has been tarnished by the torture of criminal suspects, corruption and involvement in criminal activities. Few victims of torture in the Philippines, particularly the poorly educated and impoverished, are aware of their rights or expect their complaints to be taken seriously. Philippine law stipulates the death penalty for law enforcement officials convicted of raping a woman in custody. According to Amnesty International’s information, there has been only a small number of convictions of police officers for rape of female detainees. Despite these prosecutions and the imposition of the death penalty - itself a violation of fundamental human rights - new cases of rape in custody continue to be reported. Amnesty International fears that unless women are given the necessary encouragement and protection to enable them to report torture in custody, many perpetrators will evade justice and the cycle of impunity will continue. Women detainees will remain vulnerable to rape and other abuses by law enforcement officials. Some Philippine human rights lawyers have noted that there is a degree of public acceptance that women in conflict with the law will be subjected to sexual harassment or other forms of ill-treatment. Suspected female offenders, often from the most marginalised groups, including prostitutes, street children and drug users, are frequently regarded by society as inherently immoral and therefore unworthy of just and fair treatment. Amnesty International’s research into the treatment of male criminal suspects has also found a high level of tolerance by society of torture by the police, which is seen as an effective means to secure confessions in the fight against crime. AI Index: ASA 35/001/2001 Amnesty International March 2001 Philippines: Fear, shame and impunity - rape and sexual abuse of women in custody 3 This report is based on information gathered since 1995 and on a visit by Amnesty International delegates to the Philippines in July 2000. The delegates met a variety of women’s non-governmental organizations, local human rights organizations, women lawyers, investigative journalists and academics. The delegates also visited the Philippine Commission on Human Rights, the Women’s Correctional Institution and the Manila City Jail, including its women’s section. This report focuses primarily on torture of women in custody but also touches briefly on domestic violence, which in certain circumstances may amount to torture. Amnesty International and women’s organizations in the Philippines believe the Government of the Philippines must take urgent steps to protect women in custody from torture, including rape, sexual violence and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The government also has an obligation to refrain from condoning or acquiescing in abuses by private actors and to exercise due diligence by preventing, prosecuting and punishing such abuses. This report concludes with a series of recommendations to the authorities to prevent these grave violations of women’s rights. 2. Women’s rights in the Philippines: the struggle for full recognition The Philippines has a vibrant community of women’s rights activists who have made tremendous progress in recent years in raising the profile of women’s rights both within the country and the Asia-Pacific region. One example is the increasing momentum of the campaign for justice by Filipino former “comfort women”. Forced into sexual slavery during the Japanese military occupation of the Philippines in the early 1940s, the extraordinary courage of these women, now in their 70s and 80s, has been a great inspiration for other women across Asia who are struggling to end impunity for violations of women’s human rights, including sexual violence. 2.1 Laws and their implementation Following persistent efforts by Filipino women activists, the government adopted a 30-year Plan for Gender Responsive Development (1995-2025), aimed at pursuing full equality and development for women and men, based on commitments made by the Philippines at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. Successful lobbying by Filipino women activists on
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Evolving Paradigm of Filipino Prisoners' Artistic Performance As A
    Journal of Tourism and Management Research 127 ISSN:2149-6528 Journal of Tourism and Management Research ISSN: 2149-6528 2017 Vol. 2, Issue.2 The Evolving Paradigm of Filipino Prisoners’ Artistic Performance as a Tourism Product Abstract This is an exploratory study aimed at determining whether the artistic performance of inmates in the national penitentiary may be considered as a tourism product. The performance began to gather worldwide attention with the showing of the dancing inmates on You Tube. The research was carried further by looking at performances which have been featured and are still being shown inside the Maximum and Medium Security Compounds of the country‟s prison.The methodology is a comparative analysis of literature related to tourism product and the formulation of an appropriate definition of the tourism product under study, it being intrinsic to the country. Following Smith‟s generic tourism product definition and the tourism production process, the analysis reinforced the very nature of prisoners‟ performance as a tourism product indeed. As such the paper serves to enlighten both prison and tourism stakeholders on the potential of the tourism product. Keywords: Tourism product, Inmates, Artistic performance, National penitentiary, Rehabilitation, Remediation ____________________________________ Emma Lina F. Lopez, PhD. Senior Lecturer, Asian Institute of Tourism University of the Philippines Commonwealth Avenue, Diliman. Quezon City, Metro Manila/Philippines 1101. Email: [email protected] Landline: (632)437-40-20 Mobile: +639198261817 Original Scientific Paper Lopez, E.L.F. 2017, Vol.2, No.2, pp.127-143. DOI:10.26465/ojtmr.2017229489 Journal of Tourism and Management Research 128 1. Introduction Just like Filipinos who dream to make it big in the global market, the Cebu dancing inmates have caught worldwide attention as their performance went viral in You Tube with their Michael Jackson dance drill moves.
    [Show full text]
  • Philippines 2019 Human Rights Report
    PHILIPPINES 2019 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Philippines is a multiparty, constitutional republic with a bicameral legislature. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, elected in May 2016, began his constitutionally limited six-year term in June 2016. Midterm elections in May for 12 (of 24 total) senators, all congressional representatives, and local government leaders were seen as generally free and fair, despite reports of violence and vote buying. The ruling party and allies won all 12 Senate seats and maintained a roughly two-thirds majority in the 306-seat House of Representatives. Barangay (village) and youth council elections originally scheduled for 2021 were rescheduled for December 5, 2022 so that local and national elections will occur in the same year. The Philippine National Police (PNP) is charged with maintaining internal security in most of the country and reports to the Department of the Interior. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), which reports to the Department of National Defense, is responsible for external security but also carries out domestic security functions in regions with a high incidence of conflict, particularly the Mindanao region. The two agencies share responsibility for counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations. The PNP Special Action Force is responsible for urban counterterrorism operations. President Duterte’s May 2017 declaration of martial law for the entire region of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago was extended until the end of the year, giving the military expanded powers in the area. Governors, mayors, and other local officials have considerable influence over local police units, including appointment of top departmental and municipal police officers and the provision of resources.
    [Show full text]
  • Pangkat: Inmate Gangs at the New Bilibid Prison Maximum Security Compound
    FILOMIN CANDALIZA-GUTIERREZ Pangkat: Inmate Gangs at the New Bilibid Prison Maximum Security Compound This is a study of inmate gangs (pangkats) at the New Bilibid Prison Maximum Security Compound. Through focus group discussions (FGDs) with pangkatmembers and review of documents, the study found that pangkats formed around the 1950s around ethno-linguistic divisions between Tagalog (Sigue Sigue) and non-Tagalog speaking inmates (OXO). Inadequate provisions, strained inmate-guard relationship and restrictive visiting policies incited escapes and violent riots between rival gangs in those years. Since the 1980s the pangkats transitioned into units of local self-governance with mechanisms for leadership, dispute arbitration, control of antisocial behavior, and cooperation with other pangkats and the Bureau of Corrections. The combination of relaxed visiting policies, including conjugal visits and family stay-ins, and the increased entry of civil society groups (CSGs) boosted a local economy,”normalized” the all-male population and presented opportunities for inmates to regain lost “moral status” by occupying respected positions. When the barriers that isolated the compound were lowered, the pangkat society increased its social capital, expanded its social network, bridged gaps between other gangs, the Bureau of Corrections and the free society (taga- laya) and functioned less as parochial defense and conflict groups and more as organizations of self-local governance. Key words: inmate gangs, New Bilibid Prison, incarceration, self- governance, social capital Philippine Sociological Review (2012) • Vol. 60 • pp. 193-238 193 A satellite view of the Maximum Security Compound of the New Bilbid Prison in Muntinlupa City. (Source: Google Earth) 194 INTRODUCTION Public Perception of Prisons he confinement of criminal offenders in a well supervised yet Spartan prison that enables them to ponder on past mistakes T and change encapsulates the rehabilitative discourse of modern penology.
    [Show full text]
  • CURRICULUM VITAE of RAYMUND E. NARAG, Phd I. PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION and CONTACT INFORMATION A. Present University Department O
    CURRICULUM VITAE OF RAYMUND E. NARAG, PhD I. PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION AND CONTACT INFORMATION A. Present university Department or Unit: Criminology and Criminal Justice B. Office Address: Criminology & Criminal Justice Faner Hall, Room 4224 Southern Illinois University Carbondale Carbondale, Illinois 62901 E-Mail: [email protected] II. EDUCATION Doctor of Philosophy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (2013) Master of Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (2007) Bachelor of Arts, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Philippines (1995) Cum Laude III. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice (2012-Present) Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, IL Visiting Professor, National College of Public Administration and Governance (2015- 2016) University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines Graduate Assistant, School of Criminal Justice (2005-2012) Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI IV. RESEARCH AND CREATIVE ACTIVITY (*indicates graduate/undergraduate student co-author) A. Interests and Specialties: Correctional administration, Pretrial detention, Prison governance, Inmate classification and risk assessments, Violent Extremist Offenders, Juvenile delinquency and deviance, Court administration, Philippine policing, Comparative and cross-cultural criminology and criminal justice, Mixed methods (Qualitative and quantitative research) B. Current Projects : Filipino values imported inside the jail: Informal structures and practices to mediate the pains of imprisonment. A manuscript in preparation (with Clarke Jones and Sou Lee*). Explaining factors related to pretrial detention: An integrated approach. A manuscript in preparation (with Lauretta Sam*). Exploring factors related to post-release success: Evidence from the Philippines. Manuscript in preparation (with Stephanie Jerstad*). C. Grants Applied for but not Funded: Narag, R.E. Determining best practices in court management to reduce prolonged pretrial detention.
    [Show full text]
  • CORRECTIONS the Reformers
    CORRECTIONS the reformers Dario F. Guinayen Historical Perspective of Corrections: 13th Century – Securing Sanctuary - In the 13th century, a criminal could avoid punishment by claiming refuge in a church for a period of 40 days. 16th Century – Transportation of criminals in England was authorized. At the end of this century, Russia and other European Countries followed this system. This practice was abandoned in 1835. Gaols - (jails) – the description given to pretrial detention facilities operated by English sheriff in England during the 18th century. Galleys – long, low, narrow, single decked ships propelled by sails, usually rowed by criminals. A type of ship used for transportation of criminals in the 16th century. Hulks – these are former warships used to house prisoners in the 18th and 19th century. - These were abandoned warships converted into prisons as means of relieving congestion of prisons. They were called as the floating hells. Ordeal – is the church’s substitute for a trial until the 13th century wherein guilt or innocence was determined by the ability of the accused of being unscathed through dangerous and painful test. Charlemagne (Carolus Magnus)– gave bishops the power to act as real judges which enabled bishop tribunal to rule on secular matters. - King of Franks and Roman Emperor. EARLY CODES: 1. Babylonian and Sumerian Codes Code of King Hammurabi (Hammurabic Code) – Babylon, credited as the oldest code prescribing savage punishment. But in fact, Sumerian codes were nearly 100 years older. 2. Roman and Greek Codes a. Justinian Code – 6th century AD, Emperor Justinian of Rome wrote his code of law. An effort to match a desirable amount of punishment to all possible crimes.
    [Show full text]
  • The Philippine Penal Colonies the Iwahig Penal Colony the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm Is One of the Most Popular Prisons in the Philippines
    The Philippine Penal Colonies The Iwahig Penal Colony The Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm is one of the most popular prisons in the Philippines. Iwahig Penal Colony was established in the early 1900's and to this date it's still operational. It is where criminals from other parts of the country were sent, jailed and forced to do hard labor while serving their sentence. Later on, the reformed ones are allowed to roam within the compound and mingle with the community while the "hard cores" remain in maximum confinement. Within the compound, there are farmstead tended by former prisoners who, after serving their sentence, have decided to stay in PP and start a new life. The Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm was originally set up in 1902 by the United tates to house Philippine prisoners who had fought againt the American colonization of the Philippines. Today, situated on the lush island of Palawan, only 30 minutes by road from Puerto Princesa City, Iwahig is unique among penal institutions. Despite the fact that most of the 2,300 inmates have been convicted o homicide, the majority are minimum security prisoners and are thus not locked up within the colony. Instead, these minimum security inmates live in dormitories and work on one of the many agricultural projects located within the prison farm. Prisoners who are deemed to be at risk of escaping are confined to medium or maximum security areas, where they are monitored, but these prisoners comprise less than fifty percent of the Iwahig population. Founded by the American colonial administration in 1904, The Iwahig prison on the island of Palawan in the Philippines is an open air penal colony covering 38,000 hectares of jungle and coastland.
    [Show full text]
  • State Violence in the Philippines
    State violence in the Philippines An alternative report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee presented by People's Recovery, Empowerment and Development Assistance Foundation, Inc. A project coordinated by World Organisation Against Torture Case postale 21- 8, rue du Vieux Billard CH-1211 Geneva 8, Switzerland Geneva, September 2003 Foreword Writing alternative reports is one of the main activities of the OMCT and a vital source of information for the members of the Human Rights Committee. With these reports, it is possible to see the situation as objectively as possible and take a critical look at government action to eradicate torture. Under the aegis of the European Union and the Swiss Confederation, the “Special Procedures” program presented this report on state violence and torture in the Philippines at the 79th session of the Human rights Committee, which took place in Geneva from 20th October to 7th November 2003 and during which the Government’s report of the Philippines was examined. The study is divided into three parts. Part I provides a general overview of torture and inhuman or degrading treatments (in prisons in particular) committed by state officials. Parts II and III deal with torture and inhuman or degrading treatments of women and children respectively. This rather novel approach sheds light on the situation of particularly vulnerable groups of people. The Human Rights Committee’s Concluding Observations and Recommendations adopted following examination of the Filipino Government’s Report are included in the Appendices. This report was jointly prepared by the following three Filipino human rights NGOs: PREDA Foundation. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, Preda Foundation, Inc., was founded in 1974 in Olongapo City.
    [Show full text]
  • Revisiting Cebu's Dancing Prisoners
    Social Ethics Society Journal of Applied Philosophy Volume 5, Number 2, October 2019, pp. 133-161 Dance Music and Creative Resilience within Prison Walls: Revisiting Cebu’s Dancing Prisoners Menelito P. Mansueto Colegio de San Juan de Letran [email protected] Abstract Using Foucault’s concept of governmentality vis-à-vis Appadurai’s “global ethnoscapes” as frames, I argue for a techno-cultural dimension which brought forth the phenomenon of the “dancing inmates,” an argument against the charge of Filipino colonial mimicry of a Hollywood popular entertainment. Albeit the inmates’ dance routines indeed depict Foucault’s “docile bodies” in his analysis of the modern prison, as pointed out by critics, I am inclined to show how the internet mediation through social media networks awakened a culturally imbibed dance and musical character trait vis-à-vis the jolly cultural disposition of Filipinos. Thus, I view these characteristics as existential responses, hence, ‘creative resilience,’ to the inhuman incarcerating conditions of the prison life through using the art of dance with the aid of media technology. I argue on the role of the internet as the prisoners’ avenue to the outside world that was strategically deprived of them as a form of punishment, and the role of the internet as their last frontier to freedom and to realize their human potentials. Keywords: Colonial Mimicry, Panopticism, Spectacle of Power, Western Gaze, Global Ethnoscapes, Filipino Culture, Bisayan People © 2019 Menelito P. Mansueto ISSN: 2467-5784 134 Menelito P. Mansueto Introduction My initial interest in this topic was propelled by the idea of being able to catch a glimpse of the evolving identity of the Filipino as Filipino, particularly through the detainees of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC).
    [Show full text]
  • Philippines 2017 Human Rights Report
    PHILIPPINES 2017 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Philippines is a multiparty, constitutional republic with a bicameral legislature. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, elected in May 2016, began his constitutionally limited six-year term in June 2016. The presidential and 2013 midterm national elections were generally free and fair. The 2016 local elections were twice postponed until May 2018. Proponents of delaying the elections cited several reasons, among them the continued influence of drug money on local elections. Civilian control over the Philippine National Police (PNP) improved but was not fully effective. The government confirmed a civilian head of the Internal Affairs Service in December 2016, after an eight-year hiatus. In May members of the terrorist Maute Group and supporters of other extremist organizations attacked Marawi City, on the southern island of Mindanao. In response President Duterte declared martial law in all of Mindanao. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) restored government control of the city on October 23. Approximately 360,000 persons were displaced as a result of the crisis. Extrajudicial killings have been the chief human rights concern in the country for many years and, after a sharp rise with the onset of the antidrug campaign in 2016, they continued in 2017. From January to the end of September, media reports chronicled more than 900 fatalities in police operations suspected to be connected with the government’s antidrug campaign. Police claimed to have begun investigations of all reports of extrajudicial killings. As of August, police claimed to have resolved 1,889 cases, and 4,373 remained under investigation.
    [Show full text]
  • Children in Conflict with the Law in Cebu : Profile and Experience with the Juvenile Justice Process
    CHILDREN IN CONFLICT WITH THE LAW IN CEBU: PROFILE AND EXPERIENCE WITH THE JUVENILE JUSTICE PROCESS Felisa U. Etemadi Ching Li Ye Cresencio Bermudez Jr. CHILDREN IN CONFLICT WITH THE LAW IN CEBU: PROFILE AND EXPERIENCE WITH THE JUVENILE JUSTICE PROCESS Felisa U. Etemadi Ching Li Ye Cresencio Bermudez, Jr. This report forms part of the CD-ROM entitled, “BREAKING RULES: Children in Conflict with the Law and the Juvenile Justice Process, The Experience in the Philippines.” Published by: Save the Children UK 3/F FSS Building 1 89 Scout Castor Street, Quezon City, Philippines Copyright 2004 Save the Children – UK Philippines Programme This material is copyright but may be reproduced by any method without fee or prior permission for teaching purposes, but not for resale. For copying in any other circumstances, prior written permission must be obtained from the publisher, and a fee may be payable. Research Team Consultant, Research Team Leader and Editor: Prof. Felisa U. Etemadi Senior Researcher: Ching Li Ye Research Associates: Cresencio Bermudez, Jr. Mercedita Coca Research Assistants: Ana Janet F. Suñga Consultants: Michael Maestrado Gerralyn Sayson Norman Yap Jannice Saso Technical editing: Wilma T. Bañaga Design and layout: Dok Pavia Save the Children UK is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance, the world’s leading independent children’s rights organisation, with members in 27 countries and operational programmes in more than 100 countries. Save the Children works with children and their communities to provide practical
    [Show full text]
  • Prison Gangs and Prison Governance in the Philippines
    Prison Gangs and Prison Governance in the Philippines Author Jones, Clarke Published 2014 Journal Title Griffith Asia Quarterly Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/340307 Link to published version http://pandora.nla.gov.au/tep/141524 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au 57 Prison Gangs and Prison Governance in the Philippines Clarke Jones* Australian National University Abstract: In the large, overcrowded, out-dated and under-funded prisons of the Philippines, the essential task of maintaining prison order is complex and often problematic. To carry out this crucial (albeit usually elusive) task, prison administrators are forced not only to compromise organisational integrity, but also to relinquish basic aspects of their management function to prison gang leaders. Due to scarce resources and high levels of corruption, prison administrators are also unable to adequately provide security and protection to inmates. It is therefore common practice for Philippine prisons to operate under a system of shared governance. In this type of arrangement, prison gang leaders help to maintain internal control and safeguard inmates as best they can. Even though prison stability is fragile, gang leaders help prison guards restore order quickly once disorder occurs. Based on the author’s personal observations over a three-year period, as well as his personal interactions with prison gang leaders and prison officials, this paper provides insight into the compromises prison administrators take to gain inmate compliance in New Bilibid Prison (NBP) - the largest maximum security facility in the Philippines and one of the largest in the world. In New Bilibid Prison’s (NBP) maximum security compound - one of the largest of its kind in the world - the primary task for prison administrators is to prevent the prison from falling into disorder.1 This task is made difficult because the prison is severely overcrowded, out-dated and under-funded.
    [Show full text]
  • Youtube, Pop Music, and Power in a Philippine Prison Video Thesis
    Dangerous Mediations: YouTube, Pop Music, and Power in a Philippine Prison Video Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy by Áine Mangaoang September 2014 ABSTRACT Dangerous Mediations: YouTube, Pop Music, and Power in a Philippine Prison Video Áine Mangaoang The cultural crossings between music, new digital media, prison and postcolonial Philippine culture form the basis of Dangerous Mediations, which provides a close, intertextual reading of a contemporary prison performance to question the assumptions behind seemingly familiar, entertaining audiovisual media content. Through the lens of critical cultural studies, and ethno/musicology, I examine the interplay between Michael Jackson’s renowned hit Thriller (1983) and a specific interpretation of this work by a group of 1500 Filipino inmates at the Cebu Provincial Rehabilitation and Detention Centre (2007). Rereading Jackson’s impact on popular music and culture in light of postcolonialism, penology, popular music studies, YouTube theory, and in relation to Philippine culture, I trace the evolution of this contemporary music and dance practice within Cebuano culture, as it is transformed and mediated online. I address the prevalent idea of music as an innately positive power, and through a close reading of this irresistible performance, I deconstruct prevailing (dangerous) stereotypes regarding the ‘inherently musical Filipino.’ Reflecting on how, why, and to what effect popular performance can pollinate across cultures and nations, I demonstrate how audiovisual digital platforms such as YouTube can play an important role in shaping our understanding and experiences of the world we live in. Focusing on the performances made by inmates, by Filipinos, by amateurs, I show that we are able not only to historicise the effects of the disenfranchised, but through a close reading of the intertextual, hybridised mediated performance, we may also gain access to and gradually understand that which might otherwise have remained invisible.
    [Show full text]